Macy's (M) ended the recent trading session at $22.43, demonstrating a +2.65% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.69%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.67%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.82%. Heading into today, shares of the department store operator had gained 10.91% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 1.21% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.31%.The investment community will be closely monitoring the ...

Kohl's (KSS) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.1 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.19 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.2 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +152.63%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this department store operator would post earnings of $0.33 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.56, delivering a surprise of +69.7%.Over the last four quar ...

Core Insights - Dillard's reported quarterly earnings of $8.31 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.43 per share, and up from $7.73 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of +29.24% [1] - The company achieved revenues of $1.47 billion for the quarter ended October 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.10% and showing an increase from $1.43 billion year-over-year [2] - Dillard's shares have increased by approximately 40.4% since the beginning of the year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 16.5% [3] Earnings Outlook - The future performance of Dillard's stock will largely depend on management's commentary during the earnings call and the company's earnings outlook [3][4] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $9.42, with projected revenues of $1.98 billion, and for the current fiscal year, the EPS estimate is $30.92 on revenues of $6.46 billion [7] Industry Context - The Retail - Regional Department Stores industry, to which Dillard's belongs, is currently ranked in the top 12% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating a favorable outlook compared to the bottom 50% [8] - The correlation between near-term stock movements and earnings estimate revisions suggests that tracking these revisions can provide insights into stock performance [5]

Group 1 - Kohl's (KSS) is a notable stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, currently outperforming its peers with a year-to-date return of 18.7% compared to the sector average of 5.9% [4] - The Zacks Rank for Kohl's is 2 (Buy), indicating a positive earnings outlook and strong analyst sentiment, with a 78.4% increase in the full-year earnings estimate over the past quarter [3][4] - Kohl's is part of the Retail - Regional Department Stores industry, which has an average year-to-date gain of 25.9%, suggesting that KSS is slightly underperforming within its specific industry [6] Group 2 - Compass Group PLC (CMPGY) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector, with a year-to-date increase of 6.1% [5] - The Retail - Restaurants industry, to which Compass Group belongs, has seen a decline of 5.9% year-to-date, indicating a challenging environment for this segment [7]

Group 1: Company Performance - Dutch Bros (BROS) has achieved a year-to-date return of approximately 7.1%, outperforming the Retail-Wholesale sector's average return of 5.9% [4] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BROS' full-year earnings has increased by 15% over the past quarter, indicating a positive earnings outlook [3] - Dutch Bros is currently ranked 2 (Buy) in the Zacks Rank system, reflecting strong analyst sentiment [3] Group 2: Industry Context - Dutch Bros belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry, which includes 39 individual stocks and currently ranks 220 in the Zacks Industry Rank, with an average loss of 6.5% year-to-date [5] - In contrast, Dillard's (DDS), another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, has a year-to-date return of 37.5% and belongs to the Retail - Regional Department Stores industry, which is ranked 4 and has moved up by 22.9% year-to-date [4][6]

Group 1: Company Overview - Kohl's is one of 196 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector, currently ranked 8 in the Zacks Sector Rank [2] - Kohl's has a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy), indicating a positive outlook based on earnings estimates and revisions [3] Group 2: Performance Metrics - Kohl's has returned 20.4% year-to-date, outperforming the average gain of 8.1% in the Retail-Wholesale group [4] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Kohl's full-year earnings has increased by 78.4% over the past quarter, reflecting improved analyst sentiment [3] Group 3: Industry Comparison - Kohl's belongs to the Retail - Regional Department Stores industry, which is currently ranked 3 in the Zacks Industry Rank, with an average gain of 26.7% year-to-date [5] - In contrast, TJX, another outperforming stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, is part of the Retail - Discount Stores industry, which has gained 1.9% since the beginning of the year [6]

Core Insights - Macy's shares have increased by approximately 5.5% since the last earnings report, outperforming the S&P 500 [1][2] Financial Performance - Macy's reported Q2 fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings of $0.41 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.19, but down 22.6% from $0.53 in the previous year [3] - Net sales reached $4,812 million, surpassing the consensus estimate of $4,718 million, although this represents a 2.5% decline from the same quarter last year [4] - Comparable sales increased by 0.8% on an owned basis and 1.9% on an owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace basis year-over-year [4] - Net credit card revenues were $153 million, up 22.4% year-over-year, accounting for 3.2% of sales, an increase of 70 basis points from the previous year [5] Brand Performance - Macy's brand comps rose 0.4% year-over-year on an owned basis, while Bloomingdale's saw a 3.6% increase on an owned basis, marking its fourth consecutive quarter of growth [6] - Bluemercury brand comps increased by 1.2% on an owned basis, achieving its 18th consecutive quarter of growth [6] Margins and Expenses - The gross margin for Q2 was 39.7%, down 80 basis points from the previous year due to markdowns and prior tariff impacts [7] - Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses totaled $1.94 billion, a decrease of 1.5% year-over-year, but SG&A as a percentage of total revenues increased to 38.9% [8] EBITDA and Cash Flow - Adjusted EBITDA was reported at $393 million, down 10.3% from $438 million in the prior year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.9% [9] - The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $829 million and long-term debt of $2.43 billion [10] Guidance and Outlook - Macy's updated its FY25 guidance, projecting net sales between $21.15 billion and $21.45 billion, an increase from the previous range of $21 billion to $21.4 billion [11] - Comparable owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace sales are expected to decline by 1.5% to 0.5% year-over-year, with adjusted earnings per share projected between $1.70 and $2.05 [12] Market Sentiment - Since the earnings release, there has been a 26.89% upward shift in consensus estimates, indicating positive market sentiment [13] - Macy's holds a Zacks Rank 1 (Strong Buy), suggesting expectations for above-average returns in the coming months [15] Industry Context - Macy's operates within the Zacks Retail - Regional Department Stores industry, where competitor Kohl's reported a revenue decline of 5% in its last quarter [16]

Core Insights - Kohl's reported Q2 fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS of 56 cents, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 33 cents, but down from 59 cents in the prior year [2] - Total revenues for the quarter were $3,546 million, a 5% decline from $3,732 million in the previous year, yet above the consensus estimate of $3,476 million [3] - Comparable sales decreased by 4.2% year-over-year, slightly better than the expected decline of 5.6% [3] Financial Performance - Gross margin increased by 28 basis points to 39.9%, surpassing the anticipated increase of 20 basis points [4] - SG&A expenses fell by 4.1% to $1,199 million, but as a percentage of total revenues, they rose by 32 basis points to 33.8% [4] - Operating income rose to $279 million from $166 million in the previous year, with an operating income margin expansion of 343 basis points to 7.9% [5] Financial Health - At the end of the quarter, Kohl's had cash and cash equivalents of $174 million and shareholders' equity of $3,927 million [6] - Net cash provided by operating activities was $506 million for the six months ending August 2, 2025 [6] - The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of 12.50 cents per share, payable on September 24, 2025 [6] Future Outlook - For fiscal 2025, Kohl's anticipates a net sales decline of 5-6% and comparable sales to decrease by 4-5% [7] - The expected operating margin for fiscal 2025 is projected to be between 2.5% and 2.7% [7] - Full-year EPS is forecasted to be between 50 cents and 80 cents [7] Market Sentiment - Since the earnings release, there has been a flat trend in estimates revision, with a consensus estimate shift of 15.83% [8] - Kohl's holds a strong Growth Score of A and a similar score for momentum, along with a value score of A, placing it in the top 20% for value investors [9][10] - The company has a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy), indicating expectations for above-average returns in the coming months [11] Industry Comparison - Kohl's is part of the Zacks Retail - Regional Department Stores industry, where Dillard's has seen an 11.6% gain over the past month [12] - Dillard's reported revenues of $1.51 billion for the last quarter, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 1.6% [12] - Dillard's is expected to post earnings of $6.48 per share for the current quarter, indicating a 16.2% decline from the previous year [13]

Core Insights - Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) has shown strong year-to-date performance, returning approximately 86.2%, significantly outperforming the average gain of 8.6% in the Retail-Wholesale sector [4] - The Zacks Rank for Bed Bath & Beyond is currently 2 (Buy), indicating a favorable outlook based on earnings estimate revisions and improving earnings outlooks [3] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBBY's full-year earnings has increased by 21.9% over the past three months, reflecting improved analyst sentiment [4] Industry Performance - The Retail-Wholesale group ranks 7 within the Zacks Sector Rank, which includes 16 different groups [2] - Bed Bath & Beyond belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry, which is currently ranked 84 in the Zacks Industry Rank, with an average gain of 12.2% this year [6] - Dillard's (DDS), another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, has a year-to-date return of 41.4% and a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) [5]

Core Viewpoint - Momentum investing focuses on following a stock's recent price trends, with the aim of buying high and selling higher, capitalizing on established price movements [1] Company Overview: Dillard's (DDS) - Dillard's currently holds a Momentum Style Score of B and a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), indicating strong potential for outperformance [2][3] - The stock has shown significant price increases, with shares up 8.27% over the past week and 18.77% over the past month, although it lags behind the industry performance of 9.15% and 24.16% respectively [5] - Over the past quarter, Dillard's shares have risen 38.24%, and over the last year, they have increased by 67.9%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's gains of 8.78% and 20.41% [6] Trading Volume - Dillard's has an average 20-day trading volume of 148,458 shares, which serves as a useful indicator for price movements; a rising stock with above-average volume is generally seen as bullish [7] Earnings Outlook - Recent earnings estimate revisions for Dillard's have been positive, with three estimates moving higher for the full year, raising the consensus estimate from $29.84 to $31.01 over the past 60 days [9] - For the next fiscal year, three estimates have also increased, with no downward revisions noted [9] Conclusion - Considering the positive momentum indicators and earnings outlook, Dillard's is positioned as a strong buy candidate for investors seeking short-term gains [11]